Tag: Jacob’s Trouble

Read Time 21 Minutes

Why are they Mysteries? In the Christian world today, the mysteries are taught from childhood, but this was not the case in Jesus’ day.  The mystery concepts were completely foreign and not understood to those who sat at Jesus’ feet to hear His Words!  The ancients were taught to provide their own sacrifice to the Priests at the Temple for their sins . . . repeatedly!

 

The people who lived during the Age of the Law and Old Testament were given no understanding of the concepts which form the Church and Salvation. We can see now, in hindsight, there were references to them in the Scriptures of their day, but they could not see the truths, for it was not time for their revealing.

When Jesus began to teach the supporting elements of the mysteries to the people it was foreign to their old sacrificial temple system. The focus had shifted to individuals, a direct relationship with God and a permanent and final payment for sins.  The foundational truths of the Church Age would not be fully disclosed to Paul until Jesus met with Him in the Arabian desert after the crucifixion and took him to Heaven for a visit.

The old sacrificial system had come to a close and Jesus’ death was the final and permanent sacrifice which would begin the Church Age and the New Covenant.  The debt of sin for all mankind had been paid.  Only through the mysteries and their foundational truths, can we fully comprehend the radical shift the Church Age brought.  The new insights threatened the Priesthood, with its daily sacrifices, the system of law which they used to control the people and the prestige the rabbis enjoyed.  Radical indeed . . . and not to be tolerated by the leadership!

Their denial of Jesus as Messiah and His teachings led to the Crucifixion and ultimately the judgement of Israel, with Paul designated as the Apostle to the Gentiles.   A new age of administration with all its mysteries for a new life in Christ was conveyed in the Epistles of Paul.  Although veiled to the ancients, the mysteries are all supported in both the Old Testament and the New in Jesus’ teaching.

Even the divine beings we call angels around God’s throne did not understand what was occurring or their part in it.  They longed to know the plans and purposes of God revealed in the mysteries.  Paul would enable all, angels, prophets and mankind to understand them fully once He’d spent time with Jesus in the Arabian desert and been taken to the Third Heaven, the Throne Room of God.  The First Heaven is the air above our heads, the Second Heaven, we term Outer Space and the Third – the Place of God.

1 Peter 1:12 ESV (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

¹² It was revealed to them (angels) that they were serving not themselves but you (the Body of Christ), in the things (mysteries) that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

MYSTERY #1– THE INCARNATION

What is the Incarnation?  Jesus was born as a human baby.  While on the earth He was not God, but fully human.

Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born in the Flesh and sent to redeem mankind from Sin.  Since Jesus was born as a man, He gained the legal right as Kinsman Redeemer to redeem mankind.  Ancient custom required a “relation” or kinsman be given the opportunity to redeem a relative who had sold themselves and their possessions into slavery.  Jesus, the 2nd Adam, became a Kinsman with legal right to redeem mankind and the earth lost by the 1^stAdam.  Jesus was Fully Divine, yet became fully Man and upon His resurrection and ascension became – The God Man – both fully God and fully glorified mankind!

The Number 1 is Ordinal/Deity– 1 represents the First in a Sequence and Divinity.  The Incarnation, Jesus’ birth, had to occur first for all the other mysteries to come to fruition. Jesus was One with Us, mankind, on earth, fully man throughout His life and the Crucifixion. Now, after the Resurrection and Ascension He is both Fully Man and God, seated at the Right Hand of the Father in the position of Authority!

1 Timothy 3:16 KJV – (Bold and Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness (incarnation): God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

MYSTERY #2 – THE INDWELLING CHRIST

What is the Indwelling Christ? Jesus lives in every Believer, every Day by the power of His Holy Spirit once we are born again.

Jesus Christ, the Hope of Glory, comes to live within mankind at the New Birth by His Holy Spirit. Once we Believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to shed His Blood in payment for our personal sin, we are “Born Again“.  Our Spirit is made new by Christ and sealed with Holy Spirit until our bodies are ultimately redeemed.  Holy Spirit is our guarantee of this present reality.

By virtue of this exchange, His Promise deposited within us of Holy Spirit, we are made the Righteousness of Christ Jesus and have the guarantee of Jesus’ Return for us to take us home with Him.  We are Saved by Faith in His finished work on the cross and a permanent member of the Body of Christ.

The ultimate truth is, we are saved by Faith Alone in Christ Alone for there is NOTHING we can add to or take away from Salvation achieved when we Believe in Christ, for He now Dwells in us by His Spirit.  It is this concept – Faith Alone in Christ Alone (the latin – Sola Fide’) which formed the basis for the Protestant reformation and split from the Catholic Church.

 

The Number 2 represents Agreement– We Come Into Agreement with the Person, the Nature and the Position of Christ when we are Born Again.

John 3:9-10 ESV – (Bold & Underline Emphasis Mine)

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.        ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

 

Colossians 1:27-28 ESV – (Bold & Underline Emphasis Mine)

²⁷ To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

 

The Scriptures teach Justification by Grace and our having been made Heirs of Eternal Life.  Our Souls (mind, intellect) are renewed or sanctified by Holy Spirit and our Flesh (Bodies) are changed at the Resurrection and Rapture.  Thus, our Spirit is saved when we are Born Again. Our Soul (mind, intellect) is being saved, by sanctification through Holy Spirit and the washing of the Water of the Word. Our Flesh will be saved and changed to incorruptible at the Rapture.  Thus, it is said, “Our Spirit is saved, our Soul is being saved and our Flesh will be Changed.”  We are Saved, we are Being Saved and we Will Be Changed!

Titus 3:4-7 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

⁴ But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Sanctification), ⁶ whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The Flesh is not renewed, but CHANGED . . . to Imperishable!

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

 

We cannot save ourselves by works, otherwise, it would have been unnecessary for Jesus to die. Israel with its full complement of Laws and Commandments are the example to prove mankind is incapable of living a Holy Life unblemished by sin in their own strength. Salvation is accomplished in and through Christ Alone when we Believe. We are to be Holy and live a Holy Life according to Scripture to the best of our ability by the power of the Holy Spirit once we are Born Again, but this is the result of Salvation called Sanctification.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV – (Bold & Underline Emphasis Mine)

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The Church is the Body of Christ and every Believer is a member, individually, of His Body.

1 Corinthians 12:27 – ESV – (Bold & Underline Emphasis Mine)

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

 

MYSTERY #3– THE CHURCH

What is The Church? All who have been Born Again by faith in Jesus Christ’ finished work on the Cross, without regard to nationality, are The Church.

Gentiles and Hebrews who accept Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross for payment of their sin debt become a living organism called The Church, the Body of Christ. The Church is Not Israel nor is it Gentile, but a new category for the Church Age – The Body of Christ!

The concept of the Church was hidden from the Old Testament prophets and seers.  They never foresaw this entity, nor the lengthy distance of time between the Sufferings of Christ (Crucifixion) and the Glory of Christ (Ascension, Enthronement and Second Coming).  The Dispensation of Grace, the time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and the Resurrection and Translation or Rapture of the Church is called the Church Age.

The Number 3 represents the Trinity for the Church, at its Translation, becomes one with Jesus as His Body and His Joint Heirs.  The Church and its Kingdom in Christ is Spiritual, of the Heavenly realm and its rewards are Eternal Life with Christ in the Heavenly Kingdom in Glorified Bodies, like unto Jesus.

Ephesians 3:6 ESV – (Bold & Underline Emphasis Mine)

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

What is The Gospel?  What must one Believe in order to be Saved?

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

¹I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 

³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: (1) that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ (2) that he was buried, (3) that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 

MYSTERY #4 – THE BLINDNESS OF ISRAEL

What is the Blindness of Israel?  The eyes of Israel have been blinded (veiled) in judgement to prevent their seeing the truth of Jesus as Messiah and Savior for a period of time because of their rejection of Messiah.

Failure to recognize Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in Scripture resulted in the Partial Blindness of Israel to the Gospel, a judgement, until the last Gentile is come in.  The folly of Israel, God used as an opportunity to raise up a better kingdom, not of this earth, the Kingdom to which one belongs by Faith in Christ.

Those of Israel may choose to be part of the Church and have done so, but they are in a great minority until the blindness is removed. How is the blindness removed? Repentance – Changing their mind about “Who Jesus is” and “What He has done”!  Any Individual, irrespective of nationality, who seeks the truth about who and what Jesus is will find the truth.  When the Blindness is removed, Israel, as a nation, will realize Jesus is Messiah!  If this occurs for individuals before the Resurrection and Rapture, they become members of the Church, the Body of Christ and heirs to a better promise of the Heavenly Kingdom.

Israel, like all nations, is dealt with corporately, the Nation of Israel as a whole, but also as individuals.  Any person who seeks and finds the truth of Jesus Christ as Messiah is given the opportunity to come into His Body, the Church. The Judgements on any nation are corporate judgements.  This does not preclude an individual within the nation, from seeing the truth, repenting and coming to Faith in Christ.

The Number 4 is representative of the Earth – Israel is of the Earth, an earthly entity for they sought and could only envision an Earthly Kingdom.

Romans 11:25-29 KJV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

²⁵ For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion (Heaven) the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob (Israel): ²⁷ For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. ²⁸ As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes (Abraham, Isaac & Jacob). ²⁹ For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

NOTE CAREFULLY:  The Blindness of Israel is Partial and Temporary.  Never allow a false understanding of this mystery to espouse Anti-Semitism. Do not come into agreement with this heresy.  The Blindness is for a period certain and for a purpose. God will redeem ALL Israel.  A failure to understand this results in the false teaching of Replacement Theology, a claim Israel has been cast aside permanently by God and replaced with the Church. This teaching is false and those who espouse it make God a liar.  It is anathema, a cursed teaching, and it is wrong!  Take no part in this evil.

Leviticus 26:45 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers (the Unconditional Abrahamic Covenant), whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

Israel is the nation chosen by God to be His people, His Heritage on earth!  God chose . . . and His decision is final!

Psalm 94:14 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

For the Lord will not forsake his people (Israel); he will not abandon his heritage (Israel);

 

Yes, Israel has been under judgement for denying Christ, disobedience and worshipping other Gods, but His character and nature is mercy and His love is steadfast.  God will fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac and to Jacob in and through the Nation of Israel.

Lamentations 3:31-32 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

³¹ For the Lord will not cast off forever, ³² but, though he cause grief (judgement), he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love (His Character & Nature);

God foreknew everything which would occur and made provision for man’s disobedience, all of mankind, including Israel.  The Provision is Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross to pay the sin debt for all mankind, if you will only receive His Gift!

Romans 11:2a ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

God has not rejected his people (Israel) whom he foreknew.

 

The Abrahamic Covenant is an Unconditional Covenant in its ultimate fulfillment.  Yes, Israel had responsibilities within the Covenant, but their failure to adhere to their responsibilities did not make the Covenant void or of no value, it brought judgement. The Covenant contains the permanent right to the Land of Israel with its Biblically defined borders.  The Covenant also promised Abraham his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands of the sea.  GOD SAID IT . . .  IT WLL BE DONE!

Leviticus 26:42-45 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

⁴² then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham (the Abrahamic Covenant), and I will remember the land. ⁴³ But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes.⁴⁴ Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

 

 

The Land of Israel, the Promised Land, with its borders as outlined in Scripture will be restored to Israel. Any who seek to divide God’s land will come under judgement.  The judgement for any action taken against Israel, even when God uses the action as a punishment, will be visited upon the perpetrator.  Be careful what you do to Israel, for whatever is done to Israel, the nation who caused Israel to suffer will be punished in like manner, but with greatly increased measure.

Joel 3:2-3 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

² I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Judgement). And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, ³ and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.

God Promised Abraham and His Descendants!

2 Chronicles 20:7 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land (the Promised Land) before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?

God does not Lie!

Numbers 23:19 ESV – (Bold Emphasis Mine)

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.  Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

 

Whatever is done to Israel will be done to that nation.  The end result of the conflict in the Middle East, which has now been joined by all the nations of the world via the United Nations, has already been decided.  It is already done, but has not yet been made manifest.  Those who attempt to destroy Israel will be unsuccessful and they will be destroyed.

Obadiah 1:15 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

¹⁵  For the day of the Lord (Jacob’s Trouble – The Tribulation) is near upon all the nations.

As you have done, it shall be done to you;

your deeds shall return on your own head.

¹⁶  For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,

so all the nations shall drink continually;

they shall drink and swallow,

and shall be as though they had never been.

¹⁷  But in Mount Zion (Jerusalem) there shall be those who escape (the Remnant),

and it shall be holy,

and the house of Jacob (Israel) shall possess their own possessions.

¹⁸  The house of Jacob shall be a fire,

and the house of Joseph a flame,

and the house of Esau (Arab Nations)stubble;

they (Israel) shall burn them and consume them,

and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,

for the Lord has spoken.

A nation and an individual’s destiny is determined by their position toward Israel.  There is only one scriptural position to adopt about Israel.  Come into agreement with God, for His Promise to, and Covenant with, Abraham still stands unbroken today.  Agree with God or be broken on God’s altar, called Israel!

Genesis 12:3 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

“I will bless those who bless you (Abraham and his descendants), and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you (Israel) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

 

Those who attempt to destroy Jerusalem will be destroyed! 

Zechariah 12:2 ESV – (Bold, Underline & Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

²  Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about,

When they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

³  And in that day (The Tribulation) will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people:

All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces,

Though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

⁴  In that day, saith the Lord,

I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness:

And I will open mine eyes (forgiveness and mercy) upon the house of Judah,

And will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

MYSTERY #5 – The Translation of the Church 

What is the Translation of the Church?  The Dead who Believed in Christ will be raised and Living Believers will be Translated (Transformed) in the Twinkling of an Eye into Glorified Bodies (Divine) and be taken from this Earth to the Third Heaven.

The Number 5 represents Grace.  The Resurrection of the Dead in Christ and the Translation of Living Believers  will represent the Grace of God to change the Church, to be like His Glorified Body in the Ascension . . . a Divine Body!  The final phase of a Believer’s Salvation is victory over death, the changing (translation) of the fleshly body to the Imperishable, Glorified Body and the removal from the earth to be with Christ forever!

1 Corinthians 15:50-57 ESV

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

                            “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

         ⁵⁵               “O death, where is your victory?

                             O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

MYSTERY #6 – THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY

What is the Mystery of Iniquity?  The Power of Sin to control individuals and ultimately cause the death of man is wielded by Satan and his minions to rule the earth. This power is given to Satan by God for a limited period of time, yet he remains under God’s control. This temporary Power of Sin over life and death is the Mystery of Iniquity.

The Revelation of the Man of Sin is the beginning of the defeat of the Mystery of Iniquity.  This evil entity is variously called Little Horn (Daniel 7:8), King of Fierce Countenance (Daniel 8:23), willful king (Daniel 11:36), the prince that shall come (Daniel 9:26), man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3), Son of Perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3), that Wicked One (2 Thessalonians 2:8), the Beast out of the Sea (Revelation 13:1) or The Antichrist (1 John 2:18).  Only the Apostle John in the Epistles 1 and 2 John refer to the Man of Sin as Antichrist.

The Restrainer of Iniquity is the power of Holy Spirit magnified through Sealed Believers.  The Son of Perdition, as Satan is termed initially in Revelation,  cannot be revealed prior to the Rapture of the Church.  The Wicked One is restrained from full manifestation presently by the magnified power of Holy Spirit through the sealed Body of Believers we know as the Church, the Body of Christ.

The Number 6 is the Number of Man – the Number of Antichrist is 666 or man in his most evil (tripled) form.  The Day of the Lord is also called Jacob’s Trouble or The Tribulation. It is during this time when Iniquity will be shown in its full manifestation. This is also the time when the Wrath of God and the Lamb will be poured out in full measure to destroy both Sin and Iniquity among men and the Divine Fallen. Satan will be bound for 1,000 years at the end of The Tribulation.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 KJV (Bold, Underline, Parenthesis Emphasis Mine)

³ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (THE DAY OF THE LORD) shall not come, except there come a falling away (apostasia) first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴ Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. ⁵ Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? ⁶ And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. ⁷ For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. ⁸ And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: ⁹ Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰ And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; (Why?) because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: ¹² That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

 

MYSTERY #7 – THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

What is The Mystery of The Bride of Christ?  The Church is not only the Body of Christ, but also His Bride, Flesh of His Flesh and Bone of His Bone – ONE WITH CHRIST FOR ETERNITY!  

Just as Adam’s body produced Eve, his Bride, the Body of Jesus Christ, the Seed of the Woman, was sown into the ground to raise up His Bride.  The Church is not only the Body of Christ, neither Israel or Gentile, but also The Bride of Christ.  The Church is Christ’ Bride and His Body, Joint Heirs, Priests & Kings to rule and reign with Him Forever!  The Church is also a City – The New Jerusalem – with Jesus as the Chief Cornerstone!

The Number 7 denotes Perfection and Completion – Adorned, decked out, dressed in Bridal garments, the Robes of Righteousness given by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:30-32 KJV

³⁰ For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. ³¹ For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. ³² This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

 

The Bride is also individually Living & Breathing Stones which will be assembled as a city – the New Jerusalem – a Spiritual Kingdom!

1 Peter 2:4-6 ESV

⁴ As you come to him,a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in Scripture:

     “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

     a cornerstone chosen and precious,

     and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

The New Jerusalem . . . Breathing and Living Stones . . . the Bride of Christ!

Rev 21:9-11 KJV

⁹ And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, ¹¹ Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

There is a duality in Israel and the Church. Both are loved by and created for God. Israel was created as an earthly entity and given the assignment to bring “The Nations” or Gentiles back to Yahweh. When Israel failed in their assignment and did not recognize Jesus as Messiah, they were sent into exile as a judgement and The Church was born to be the Body and Bride of Jesus Christ, an eternal Priesthood. The Church is made up of “all mankind from every nation who will accept Christ’ finished work on the Cross” . . . He Died for your sins and mine!

 

The Body of Christ inherits a Spiritual, not an earthly Kingdom as Israel does. The Church was created to do the work Israel failed to do while in the Land, evangelize the nations and bring them back to faith in Yahweh.  The Church is not a replacement for Israel, but a higher expression of Faith in and through Christ – a Spiritual Entity, not constrained by nationality. The Church will operate until such time as Christ removes them in the Rapture and returns His focus to Israel during Jacob’s Trouble where The Remnant will come to faith in Jesus the Christ as Ha’ Mashiach.

Israel retains all the promises of the Unconditional Abrahamic Covenant (the Land Covenant) and will have their physical land on earth restored to them both now and in its full measure during the Millennium.  The current nation of Israel returned to the land in Apostasy, as prophesied, but will be brought to faith in Christ as Messiah during Jacob’s Trouble.

Do not concern yourself with who is “true Israel” and who is not, God already knows and He will take care of any imposters. The Remnant of the nation of Israel who come to faith in Messiah during Jacob’s Trouble will repopulate the land of Israel with the borders as outlined in Scripture and rule their Kingdom with Yeshua Ha’Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah) as their King for 1,000 years.  All the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant will be fulfilled during this time.

The Body of Christ is the beneficiary of the Eternal or Everlasting Covenant we term also the New Covenant. The Church will be removed from the earth once its work is completed and taken HOME as The Body and Bride of Christ to rule and reign with Him in Glorified Bodies forever.

Yes, the Bride will return with Christ to Earth at the final stage of His Second Coming at the end of Jacob’s Trouble.  The Church will then possess Glorified Bodies, in His Service, not as mortal mankind who populates the Millennium, for we shall always be with the Lord. The center of the earth both now and during the Millennium is Jerusalem.

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 ESV

¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Thanks for taking time for me . . . 

BLESSINGS,

Sherry Driskell Griffin

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